Like We Used To
by InkedBaby
Summary: Dasey! Derek remembers back on his relationship with Casey and how happy they were, now she's with Sam, and while he's torn apart, he still wants her to be as happy as possible. When things with Sam, Derek has hope. Very fluffy. Happy Dasey ending. Mentions of Derek/Casey and Casey/Sam. Ch. 1 is based off the song Like We Used To by A Rocket To The Moon. Finished.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Well usually I hate songfics, but this kind of crept up on me, you know? It wouldn't leave my mind, so it had to be written.  
**

**Disclaimer: Life With Derek is not mine, the songs aren't mine, everything that's less creative _is_ mine, though.**

**Summary: Based off of A Rocket To The Moon's song Like We Used To. Away at college, Derek and Casey share an apartment. They were together for some time, but eventually decided to break up because of their family. Basically, this is Derek remembering what they had and hoping Casey's happy. Very angsty.  
**

**Italics is Derek remembering back to them being together, plain text is recent.  
**

_Warm breath ghosted across Derek's neck and he smiled sleepily. God, he loved this. He opened his eyes and watched the blurry brown blob turn into beautiful brown locks of hair. He buried his nose in Casey's hair and breathed deeply, an intoxicating smell of strawberries assaulted his nose and his smile grew. He sighed happily, "mmmm." Normally, Derek wasn't one to cuddle. But normally, one wouldn't wake up next to their step-sister after a long night of playful conversation and giggling._

_Casey snuggled closer into his chest and wrapped her legs around his own. Derek squeaked, a very manly squeak!, as her cold toes slide across the back of his knee. "Casey, always so cold, Baby." he breathed out before wrapping his arms more firmly around her. A giggle escaped the girls lips as she shifted under the covers to his chest, pressing her ear firmly against it. This was something Casey loved to do, and he knew it. Listening to his heart always made Casey feel good. Sometimes, she'd listen after a long day of classes and studying to ease her frustration. Sometimes she'd listen to lull herself to sleep. Sometimes she'd just listen._

_Derek hummed happily and sang Casey's favorite song quietly to her, willing this feeling to never leave._

I can feel her breath as she's sleepin' next to me,  
Sharing pillows and cold feet.  
She can feel my heart, fell asleep to it's beat,  
Under blankets and warm sheets.

A groan escaped his lips as Derek sat up in bed, dangling his legs off the side. He sighed and brought his hand to the back of his head, musing the back of his hair and scratching his scalp absentmindedly. He tried to forget, he willed himself to forget everything. He looked back at the pillow on his bed, the one that hadn't been occupied the night before, and felt a familiar stinging in his eyes. No, he refused to cry.

Derek let out a loud, angry grunt and got up, shuffling to the closet. He picked out some clothes and made way to the bathroom. he braced himself at his bedroom door, delaying the inevitable. He knew he'd see Casey, of course he'd see Casey, why wouldn't he? They shared an apartment, dammit.

Who's bright idea was that? Derek grumbled. Of course, it wasn't a problem a couple of months ago, when they were... together. No, it was quite amazing, actually. Ever since they decided it was best if they stayed just friends, "best friends Derek, best friends," though, it was torture. Actually, it wasn't torture at first, he wouldn't lie to himself. At first, there was possibility. Possibility that maybe, just maybe, Casey would change her mind and put her happiness above their family's. That possibility vanished a few months later when she started dating Sam again. He told her he was happy for her, and he was, but he wasn't happy, himself.

The stinging in his eyes was back, and all Derek could do to distract himself was bite the inside of his cheek as hard as he could, the, now familiar, rusty taste flooding his mouth. He braced himself as he opened the door, making his way to the bathroom. The least he could do was feel a little more awake and refreshed before he had to face Casey.

He made his way down the hallway and reached for the handle of the bathroom door, but quickly glanced at Casey's door first. He shouldn't have. The stinging in his eyes was back and he knew that Sam was in there with her. A silent sob racked his body and he ran into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. He couldn't have another break down, he wouldn't.

"Dammit Casey, why?" he whispered to himself, like he did every morning for the last year and half, why couldn't they just be happy together and fucking forget everyone else.

If only I could be in that bed again...  
If only it were me instead of him...

_Derek laughed quietly as Casey jumped up and down happily._

_"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Derek! I love you!" He watched her run around their apartment getting ready for the movie. She shuffled around the kitchen making popcorn and grabbing anything else she could think of, then moved to the hall closet, grabbing as many blankets and pillows as her arms could shook his head and laughed before getting up to help her. He stood behind her and whispered in her ear humourously, "don't cover you line of vision, Baby, we don't need any klutzilla moments ruining the night."_

_"Der-ek!" she whined, trying to hold back her smile. He did notice she dutifully lowered her arms so she could see in front of her, though._

_Casey loved when they had movie nights. They would gather all the blankets and pillows they had and make an extravagant bed in the middle of the living room floor. Derek would grab all Casey's favorite movies, Derek made movie nights all about Casey, and pile them by the DVD player, and she'd chose which order they watched them in. All the junk food in the house was strewn across the floor around them, and there was a silent understanding that everything else in the world was forgotten. This was Casey and Derek time._

_Movie nights usually took place on Friday nights, they'd stay up all night, sometimes well into the next day, watching movies, or not, and just enjoying each others company. One time, they stayed together in their own little bubble for so long that it was pushing noon on Saturday before they realized they had lives they needed to tend to._

_When they finished setting up the living room, Derek threw himself down, laying on his stomach. Casey laughed above him, "you're so graceful." He turned to look over his shoulder and winked. "You know it, Princes."_

_Casey sat next to him before glancing at the movie selection, grabbing one near the bottom of the pile, and tossing it by Derek's face. "That one," she smiled and made to lay down next to him. As he set up the movie, Derek watched her in his peripheral vision. Casey scooted her way towards the candy and bit her lip in concentration. Derek knew she always picked the the same thing first, but she always made this huge show about not being able to decide what she wanted. Derek pressed play and situated himself next to Casey, "twizzlers," he whispered in her ear just as she reached her hand out to grab something. "How'd you know?" she gasped, truly surprised, brows furrowing in confusion. "You're predictable, Space," he laughed, "the movies starting." Casey wiggled her way closer to Derek, twizzlers in hand, so that their bodies were touching, shoulder to ankle._

_"Oooh! I love this song!" she smiled as the opening credits started, and Derek turned to face her, breath ghosting over her ear. "I never meant to cause you any sorrow, I never meant to cause you any pain, I only wanted one time to see you laughing, I only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain." Derek knew it was one of her favorite songs, she fell in love with it while practicing for her last dance performance._

_Casey smiled and turned to kiss him. Her lips ghosted over his before he tilted his head to firmly kiss her back. He broke the kiss to roll onto his back and looked up at her expectantly, a smirk on his face. Casey rolled her eyes but leaned down to kiss him again._

_Derek's heart was beating erratically in his chest as Casey leaned above him, kissing him deeply. If everything else in his life fell apart, he'd be happy to just be here, with Casey._

Does he watch your favorite movies?  
Does he hold you when you cry?  
Does he let you tell him all your favorite parts when you've seen it a million times?  
Does he sing to all your music while you dance to "Purple Rain? "  
Does he do all these things, like I used to?

"Derek!" Casey slammed the door to their apartment, typical Casey-Freakout-Mode. "Derek! Where are you?" she screamed, uncharacteristically throwing all her stuff down at the door and looking around frantically. Derek came out of the kitchen, two sodas in hand, and sighed. "What happened Case?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at Derek, "Iditmenferitohapnijdtdiissry!" her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and she clung to him for dear like.

Derek felt sick, a tight coil wrapped up in his stomach and saliva pooled up under his tongue. He knew she was with Sam before her dramatic entrance, he just didn't know what exactly happened.

It clicked. Derek bit the inside of his lip, blood stinging his taste buds. _Oh, God, please no... _"Spacey, tell me what happened." he begged, trying to remain calm for her sake.

She looked up from his chest, tears pouring down her face, and caught his eyes with her own. Sorrow darkened the blue orbs and she tried to catch her breath. "Derek," she cried, "I can't believe myself, I wanted to wait, I was caught up in the moment. It wasn't even nice! We were in his car Derek! His freaking car. I should have stopped him, I wasn't thinking. " Everything ruched out of her mouth, a steady flow of words digging into his heart and scooping out pieces to throw away. She choked out more, but the rest was unintelligible as she cried in his shirt.

Derek bit harder down on the inside of his cheek, welcoming the pain and pushing back the tears. He could barely think straight. _No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!_

Casey slept with Sam. In his car, none the less. Anger bubbled up in his chest and he fought to keep it in check. Who does Sam think he is? Anyone who knew Casey knew she wanted to wait.

Derek remembered back 14 months ago when he could've been with Casey. They never went all the way because he knew, _Derek knew_, that Casey wanted to wait and she'd never forgive herself if they went all the way. He remembered the way her fingers trickled across the skin below his belly button, wanted to go further, but what to stop at the same time. His lips wrapped around her ear lobe, gently sucking, as he chuckled lightly in her ear, thinking he'd have forever to be with her. "Mmmm, not yet Princess." he'd whispered, sending shivers through her body. At the moment, Casey was upset, but whenever she though back to that moment she silently thanked him for doing what she couldn't.

Derek couldn't stop the stinging behind his eyelids this time, he couldn't hold back the tears that flowed, and he couldn't stop Casey for looking up at him and seeing. Derek didn't do emotions, Casey saw that he did.

Her own watery orbs met his, saying things she'd never be able too. _I'm sorry, Derek. I still love you, Derek. I wish it had been you, Derek._

They held each other all not, not speaking, just crying. Casey cried for something she'd lost and couldn't get back. Derek crying for what should have been his, but wasn't. _Dammit Casey, why?_

Fourteen months and seven days ago...  
Oh, I know you know,  
How we felt about that night.  
Just your skin against the window...  
Oh, we took it slow,  
And we both know...  
It should've been me inside that car.  
It should've been me instead of him... in the dark.

_Derek laughed when Casey flung a green bean across the table at him. "Oh no you don't!" he cried dramatically, pushing his chair back, ready to stand up. Casey saw what he was going to do, squealed, and unceremoniously threw herself from the kitchen table and flew down the hall, giggling the whole way._

_Derek leaped after her, snatching her at the hips, and tickling her furiously. "Der-ek!" she choked out, laughing and gasping for breath. Derek was laughing just as hard, staring down at the beautiful face before him that was lit up in pure happiness. "Der!... Can't... Breath!" she laughed and laughed, willing him to stop, but keep going at the same time._

_Casey sighed in relief as he took mercy on her and finally stopped his ministrations. They were laying on the floor in the hallway, him slightly on top of her, breathing deeply with huge smiles on their faces._

_He lifted his head to look down at Casey. Her hair was sprawled out around her in a complete mess, he cheeks were bright read, and her eyes still held a twinkle of laughter in them. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "God, I love you!"_

_Casey smiled up at him, feeling happier than she ever had, and whispered back. "I love you too." Derek couldn't help himself, he leaned in and kissed her._

_"So perfect," he whispered against her lips, smiling and completely carefree. He pulled back and hugged Casey to him, rolling over onto his back. Her head found its usual position on his chest, right above his heart, and she listened carefully. She listened as the beat slowly evened out as Derek played with her hair quietly._

_These were the moments the two cherished the most. When they could just be together, quietly, no one but each other. Derek holding Casey closely, loving how good they felt together. Usually it wasn't on the floor in the hallway, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered when they were together like this. Only each other. Only Derek and Casey and their love for each other all wrapped together feeling more happy than either of them could have thought possible._

Will he love you like I loved you?  
Will he tell you everyday?  
Will he make you feel like you're invincible with every word he'll say?  
Can you promise me if this was right:  
Don't throw it all away?  
Can you do all these things?  
Will you do all these things...  
Like we used to?  
Oh, like we used to...

Derek watched his reflection in the mirror, hating himself for being so weak. Glassy brown eyes stared back at him, tears streaming down the cheeks of the man who refused to show emotion. He choked back sobs, trying to be quiet, Casey was out there, Sam was out there, and those three awful words were out there too.

Who would have thought the words uttered out of those soft pink lips that once made him feel so whole and happy would now tear him apart?

It was the first time he heard them. Well, directed at Sam anyway, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. The image of Casey smiling up at Sam whispering, "I love you" burned behind his eyes and more tears rolled out.

God, he was being stupid, It's been over a year since Casey had been his, even if he still wished she was.

Derek breathed deeply, calming himself down and trying to think rationally.

Derek's back leaned against the wall, and his butt slid to the bathroom floor. He sat, head hanging between his knees for what seemed to be eternity, willing himself to stop crying.

_At least she's happy. _His heart hurt thinking about all the things she now had with Sam, things they'd had together not so long ago. The thought of her smiling and happy brought him at least a little bit of consolation as he wiped his face on the long sleeve of his t shirt. She better not screw this up for herself again, Derek thought bitterly, shocking himself. He was happy for her, of course he was, but he wasn't happy.

Derek wondered if he'd ever be able to actually be happy without Casey.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Haha, nobody liked this. I got NO reviews or favorites. Lol, hell, I didn't really like it either, so I decided to give it a happy ending. Dasey, of course. Eff Sam. Lol.  
**

**So, maybe this will be like... hm, a three-shot? Probably. I might make it a tad longer, depending how long it takes me to get where I want to go. Who knows. Nothing longer than like 6 chapters though. All I know is this will definitely get finished.  
**

**Oh, and the picture on his phone, its real, lol. Just google their names and you'll see it eventually. I feel like that's a little creepy of me... Oh, well.  
**

**Disclaimer: Life With Derek isn't mine, I'm just taking the character's out to play. Whatever else you recognize isn't mine either, I'm not that big an influence, yet. I'm not trying to make any money off this, I'm just procrastinating. Bleh.  
**

Derek sighed heavily, laying back in his bed. Music blared through the speakers on his desk, but the song didn't really register in his mind. Small details very rarely did, now a days. Derek closed his eyes and willed himself to fall asleep, something he did quite often, recently.

Derek knew very little would force himself into sleep, but he still tried everything every time. First, he counted backwards from one hundred, giving up by 72. Next, he tried physically relaxing each part of his body completely, but gave up around his wrists. After that, he tried evening his breathing, each breath came out a little bit less shaky than the last, but he was still wide awake. Finally, he tried emptying his mind. He tried thinking of nothing but darkness, dense, can't-even-see-the-hand-in-front-of-your-face-darkness. Every time the odd thought would pop into his mind he'd push it away, thinking of nothing but black. Eventually this worked, and if he could consciously make the decision to do that more often he would, not only did it force him to sleep, but it helped with the painful thoughts constantly flitting through his mind.

Derek's sleep was restless, he tossed and turned and dreamed of frustration, often waking up through out the night in an anxious daze before falling back into sleep. This happened quite a lot recently, and Derek tended to wake up even more tired and restless than he had been the night before. He got used to it.

That's something he was tired of doing. Getting used to things.

He'd gotten used to a lot in the passed two years. He'd gotten used to being with Casey, and then without her. He'd gotten used to her being her boyfriend, then just her friend. _"Best friend, Der." _He'd gotten used to it being just him and Casey, and it turning into Sam and Casey. He'd gotten used to smiling and not meaning it. Crying and not showing it. Laughing and not feeling it. Loving and not receiving it. He got used to getting used to things. He got tired of it, too.

Derek blinked his eyes furiously, trying to get them to adjust to the pitch black of his room. He shuffled around his bed, moving pillows and blankets frantically, trying to find his phone. When you wake up in the middle of the night, every thing seems like a much bigger deal than it really is. After he was sure he ran his hands over every surface of his bed, he flung half his body over the edge and spotted it. Derek sighed in relief. He snatched up the phone and hit a button to see the time.

4:37

Derek was momentary distracted by the picture on his screen, it was one of him and Casey. They were sitting in the backseat of a car, him in a leather jacket and white glasses, her in a white sweater and scarf. He loved this picture, the look on Casey's face always made him smile.

His smile quickly changed and he flopped the phone down on the bed. Derek sighed. He climbed out of bed to go to the kitchen. If you can't sleep, eat.

Once in the hallway, Derek stopped dead. The small crack of light was peeking out under Casey's door. He stared at it a minute, as if were going reach out and bite him as he walked by. Derek swallowed audibly, but decided against going back to his room. He continued to the kitchen.

As he passed her door, Derek could her Casey's voice softly speaking into what he assumed was her phone. _Late night phone calls with Sam, cute._ He thought, bitterly. She used to talk to him all night.

What he didn't here was the discomfort in her tone, and Sam's voice on the other end of the line, frustrated.

Derek made his way to the freezer and pulled out some ice cream, Phish Food. His favorite. He got a spoon, forgoing the bowl, and sat down to eat. Three bites in and the creek of Casey's bedroom door was heard. He looked up, planting a smile on his face, and nodded at her. "Hey, Case. Couldn't sleep?"

She looked startled, but instantly smiled back. "Mm mm, just thinking about some things." She spotted the ice cream in his hands and raised an eyebrow. Derek laughed. "Come here."

Casey quietly made her way over to him and opened her mouth, he knew what she wanted. Derek smirked and held the spoon, full of chocolatey goodness to her. She took her bite and looked down at him. Derek instantly scooted to the opposite edge of his chair, making room for her as well.

They sat together in silence, bodies touching completely down the sides, and Derek giving them each bites of ice cream. Derek remembered when they used to do this a while ago. Of course it wasn't this quiet, and it wasn't because they each wanted a bit of comfort, but still.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Casey asked, breaking Derek out of his thoughts.

Derek looked at her a shrugged, "dunno," he whispered. They both knew he was lying, but he wasn't called on it. "Wha bouh chu?" he said around his next bite of ice cream, causing Casey to giggle and smack his arm playfully. Derek smirked.

"I was just on the phone with Sam. He told me he's going to a different college next year."

Derek just stared, he knew there was more to the story that she wasn't sharing, but he wasn't going to push her. For a moment he wondered why Sam hadn't told him yet, then remembered they weren't as close as they once were. He sighed, "That sucks."

Casey didn't answer, she just gave him a look he didn't really understand and accepted her next bite of ice cream. "Well, are you okay...?" Derek pressed on, normally not one for emotional conversations, but concerned about Casey.

"Mhm," she smiled.

Derek was confused. Why was she okay with this? Every possible scenario started running through his head, and he started to panic. Oh no, she wasn't going with him was she? If Casey switched schools he'd be all alone. With his luck it'd probably be a school on the other side of the world or something. He couldn't let her go. What could he possibly do to change her mind? Maybe Nora wouldn't let her go...

"Derek, you slacker," she laughed, pulling the spoon out of his hand. Derek's confused gaze met hers for a quick second before descending to the spoon, "oh, sorry," he mumbled, barely audible. His inner turmoil boiled on at the though of not even being able to see Casey.

A sharp, unwanted thought stabbed the back of his mind. Maybe he'd be better off if she left. He would be able to move on, finally. It's been very nearly two years since they were together. Hell, Casey was way passed moved on. Derek grimaced. He didn't care if he had to wallow in self pity for the rest of his life, he just wanted to be with Casey in any way he could.

Casey stared at Derek, his eyes glazed over, brows furrowed in thought. "D?" she asked. It took a few seconds for him to break away from his racing mind and look up at her, and even when he did he wasn't fully there yet. Casey noticed, so she waited.

Derek's mind tried to catch up to his body as he looked up at Casey, when he realized she said something he shook his head slightly, "huh?"

Casey laughed. "Nothing, Derek, just worried about you?" it came out hesitant, Derek noticed. "I'm fine," he sighed.

Silence over came them for a few minutes before Derek noticed something, he laughed lightly and reached out for Casey. She was confused for a second before she realized what he was going for.

The spoon.

Derek grabbed it before she could react, and leaned over close to her, "you're supposed to share, Spacey, its only polite." Casey giggled as his breath tickled the side of her neck before grabbing the ice cream and bolting.

"Oh no you don't!" Derek playfully shouted and ran after her.

He caught her in the living room, and grabbed her around the waste, tickling her sides mercilessly.

"Der-ek!" she laughed out, "Stop! Gun.. drop..i..crea!" she barely managed to get out before he stopped suddenly, a grave look on his face.

"Oh no," he said, very seriously, "we can't have that." Casey looked at him incredulously, then burst into laughter. "Of course you'd stop when food is in danger!"

Derek stared at her, holding back his amusement and trying to stay serious. "Casey. This is Phish Food ice cream. Phish food. We can't let it get wasted."

Casey's laughter seemed to grow by a tenfold and her next sentence was barely understandable. "But there's barely any left!"

Derek looked at her quizzically, lunged for the ice cream, and peered inside the container. After a quick deliberation he decided, "Casey, I can't share anymore, it's almost gone." He has a sullen look on his face, all for show, of course, and Casey was clutching her sides and rolling on the floor. Her laughter continued for what seemed like hours and eventually Derek had to join in, it was just too contagious.

When the two finally caught their breaths and stopped laughing, they were laying side by side on the living room carpet.

Derek's mind drifted off to their earlier conversation and dread instantly flooded his mind, again.

Casey was probably leaving.

Derek couldn't take the suspense anymore, so he tried to think of a subtle way to bring it back up. He couldn't, so he opted for "You seem a lot less upset than I would expect." He hoped she wouldn't make a comment about him wanting to get sappy. She didn't.

"I just feel like its for the better," he smile from earlier was back, and Derek was confused. What did she mean? "Leaving here is for the better?"

Casey glanced over at Derek's anxious expression and laughed. "No, D. I'm not leaving." Derek breathed an audible sigh of relief, and CAsey continued talking. "I broke up with Sam."

He just stared at her. A million different emotions flooded through Derek's body, happiness, confusion, relief, but most importantly hope.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I'll tell you at the end if this is the final chapter or not... I don't know. We'll let the chips fall where they may. Wow, I can't even act cool...  
**

**But, sorry this took so long, I was on vacation! Yep. We'll go with that... No, just kidding, I really was.  
**

**Disclaimer: I'm sure we all know by now how little I mean to the world of Life With Derek, but shall I refresh our memories? I own nothing. I don't claim to own anything. Don't sue me. I don't have anything to give you if you do.  
**

Two months ago Casey and Sam broke up. Two whole months of Derek's heart gluing itself back together. Of course, I would never mend fully unless Casey was his again, and even then the hole would never really heal. But it was trying. Derek's heart went to shattered in tiny little pieces that could never be put back together to merely broken. It might be fixable now. He had hope.

Everyday that passed had Derek's hope growing, some days by just a fraction, others by tenfold. As Casey grew further away from her feeling about Sam, she grew closer to Derek. Things were going back to how they should be, but they still weren't as they were.

Derek still laid alone at night, sometimes in complete silence, others listening to Casey's quiet sobs coming from her room. Eventually, though, he got fed up, and went to comfort her.

"Case?" he whispered, knocking quietly on the door as he pushed it open slowly. He peeked his head in at the brunette curled up on her bed, tissues in hand. "Casey..." he whispered again slowly, mainly a reaction to the heartbreaking picture in front of him. The small frame barely moved to acknowledge him, but Derek knew it was okay for him to come in as there was no protest.

Derek inched his way forward, a little nervous about all the emotions stuffed into the little room, and paused when he reached the edge of the bed. Was it okay for him to just climb into her bed? He hasn't done that since they were... well, he just hadn't done that in a while. Would she get mad at him? Would it make her even more upset? Should he have just stayed in his room? What if-

"I don't bite, Der," Casey sniffled and lifted her head to look at him. Derek sighed in relief and climbed onto the bed. As he laid down, he pulled Casey's smaller frame to him and she curled up into his arms, new sobs wracking her body. "Casey, shh..." he whispered in her hair, a futile attempt to calm her that he knew wouldn't work. Casey had to let everything out, and if it took her crying in his shirt all night than that's what would happen.

Derek held Casey in his arms and ran his fingers through her hair and just let her cry. He kept his nose buried in her hair, boy had he missed holding her like this. As Derek comforted her, Casey's crying grew less and less and stifled out within the next hour.

Neither spoke for a few minutes, both afraid to ruin the moment. The silence grew thick and awkward, neither knowing what to say or do that wouldn't make things weird. Casey eventually took a huge breath and sighed out a barely audible "thank you," that had Derek's heart soaring and a smile lighting up his face. "S'okay Space, s'what I'm here for," he mumbled, unintelligibly happy that she didn't push him off, or make an excuse and run away.

"I just feel bad that you have to see me like this," she whispered, embarrassed, "especially because of why..." her voice trailed off.

"Why? Casey, what-?" Derek didn't really know what to ask because he didn't really know what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, Derek, I'm so sorry. I've been so selfish and I haven't even thought of how it might be affecting you, I just-" Derek shushed her, this isn't a conversation he wanted to have no, or ever for that matter This conversation meant him admitting how pathetic he's been pining over her while she's clearly moved on.

"Don't Case," he sighed, his mood falling again, "it doesn't matter."

"It does to Derek! It matters to me!" the anger in her voice was very evident, causing Derek to cringe, then smirk. Arguing with Casey he knew, arguing with Casey was something he was very well practiced in, thank you very much. Keeping his demeanor cool, he answered, "well, I don't want to talk about it."

Casey glared up at him from his chest and jumped out of his arms, "Casey..." he sighed, but there was no point. She was already standing by the edge of the bed, arms folded, foot tapping, glare pasted on her features.

"Derek Venturi we are going to talk about this."

"Uh, no we we're not."

"DER-EK, why do you have to be so selfish?" Casey's fists were at her sides now, completely enraged.

"Didn't you just say you were the selfish one, Spacey?" Derek's tone was mocking, he knew he was going to win this one. "If we're going to have this argument maybe you should keep up."

"UGH," Casey stomped her foot, much like angry teenage girls in the movies, causing Derek to chuckle. "You don't have to be so rude Derek, I was just trying to apologize for what I was doing to you, and-"

Derek's calm facade melted away at her words, he was so tired of feeling sorry for himself, that her own pity pushed him over the edge. Everything came pouring out.

"WELL DON'T! Why to you have to be so self centered to think everything you do affects me? Can't you just go on with your life and let me pretend to do the same? It's bad enough I have to be pathetic on my own time, you don't have to bring it up and throw it in my face just because you want to feel better. That won't make me feel better, so just stop it Case. I've had enough of feeling sorry for myself, you don't have to be sorry too."

Casey was speechless, running what he said through her head over and over. Her first instinct was to apologize, but she didn't even want to think about how he'd react to that. _Get on with my life? Let him pretend to? Pretend meaning... he won't? He still what? I'm confused... Wait..._

"Der? You never got over me, did you?" He looked up from his post of sulking into her pillow and gave her a weak smile and shake of his head. "You're not that easy to let go, Princess."

Casey was quiet, and it was driving Derek insane. He knew that calculating expression anywhere, but he didn't know what she was actually thinking. He just basically threw his broken heart out there again, and there was nothing he could do to keep her from trampling all over it a second time.

Casey's mind was running a mile a minute. _He never got over me. He was supposed to get over me! I mean... he's Derek Venturi, he goes from gil to girl like its no bog thing. I mean, I knew I'd never stop loving him... but he wasn't supposed to be in pain all this time. Is that why he stopped dating? He said he was just focusing on school... Ha, I should have known that wasn't true... But... Sam. Oh gosh, he's been in love with me and I've just been throwing Sam in his face. Oh, I'm so sorry Derek. I'm such a horrible person, why did I ever think us breaking up was the right thing to do? Probably because our family would disown us... No, that doesn't matter. Why am I sacrificing out happiness for theirs? ... Why is he looking at me like that? ... Oh. OH._

"I never go over you either." Casey smiled, a real genuine smile, one Derek hasn't seen in over two months.

"But Sam... and I-"

"Shut up and listen to me Venturi," she said with a smirk, "I didn't break up with Sam because I didn't want to move with him, I broke up with him because I was tired of pretending I could feel the same about him that I felt about someone else."

Derek smiled, not quite as happy or big as Casey did, but it was a start. "And who was this someone else?" he muttered, crawling on his knees across her bed to reach her.

"Oh... you know. Just this guy I knew in high school." Casey grabbed the hand Derek had stretched towards her and let him pull her onto the bed in front of him.

"High school, eh? Was he the sexiest most romantic guy you know?" Derek asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Casey snorted.

"No, he was the sexiest sexist pig I knew, but he grew on me, and there's more to him than what meets the eye."

"And how did he feel about you?" Derek laughed, pulling her in for a hug, amazed that this was happening.

"Oh, he loved me of course."

The two embraced, heads resting on each others shoulders and hearts beating erratically.

"And did he treat you right?" Derek whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment in fear it would all be a cruel dream.

"Well, at first he was a little iffy, but then he treated me better than any guy ever did, he was amazing." Casey's voice was full of emotion, an it caused Dereks heart to swell.

He buried his nose in her hair and took a deep breath, the smell washing over him and making him feel at home. "Well, he'd be crazy not to feel the same about you still, maybe you should, you know, go after him or something?"

Casey pulled back and raised an eyebrow at him, "oh yeah?" Derek's smirk answered her, "yeah."

Casey leaned in and kissed him, and Derek's broken heart started rapidly sewing itself back together. Pieces that had seemed lost forever grew back with the rest and he was finally happy, genuinely happy. Derek couldn't help it, he smiled into there kiss, causing Casey to laugh. "What?" Derek looked into her beautiful brown eyes and his smile grew wider, "I missed you, Princess."

"I missed you, too, Der. I missed you, too."

**This is finished, for now. There might be an epilogue one day, but I don't know. Anyway, hope you liked it. **


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